The Enchantment Emporium (Gale Women, #1)

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The Enchantment Emporium (Gale Women #1)

3.77 of 5 stars 3.77 · rating details · 2,093 ratings · 339 reviews

The bestselling author of the Blood Books delivers a masterful new urban fantasy.

Alysha Gale is a member of a family capable of changing the world with the charms they cast. Then she receives word that she's inherited her grandmother's junk shop in Calgary, only to discover upon arriving that she'll be serving the fey community. And when Alysha learns just how much troubl...more

Hardcover, 361 pages

Published June 2nd 2009 by DAW Hardcover

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May 21, 2012 Jamie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy-urban

This is one of the best urban fantasy books I've read in a while. With a slightly stronger ending this would have been a five-star book for me; it really hit my sweet spot. It's funny and light-hearted but not shallow at all. The magic system felt fresh and different, and it's not hard to enjoy this idea of women becoming more powerful as they age. I hope this is the beginning of a new series.

There's a big, loving, powerful, nosy, overprotective and very appealing family. There's a lot of amusin...more

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Oct 30, 2011 Estara rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: fans of urban fantasy a la Emma Bull or Charles de Lint

Recommended to Estara by: dawbooks.livejournal.com

Shelves: ebook, re-read, read-in-2011, read-in-2009

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Maybe I should have given it five stars, because the one aspect I didn't like was planned by the author - I really despised the antagonist.

I loved the idea (which the author has explicitly mentioned about this book in interviews) of a family where the women hold the power and the older the more power they get. The rituals and connections that govern the usage of the power (and I really shouldn't say they hold it - they use it when it's raised and otherwise let it go) and the interconnectedness o...more Maybe I should have given it five stars, because the one aspect I didn't like was planned by the author - I really despised the antagonist.

I loved the idea (which the author has explicitly mentioned about this book in interviews) of a family where the women hold the power and the older the more power they get. The rituals and connections that govern the usage of the power (and I really shouldn't say they hold it - they use it when it's raised and otherwise let it go) and the interconnectedness of breeding for power usage (which they do) and not corrupting it is fascinating (view spoiler).

Alysha, mostly called Allie - which will confuse me when I reread Katharine Eliska Kimbriel's alternate history fantasy series - has enjoyed her life inside the fold, but also never quite shaped up the way the aunties (who run the show) want.

The boy everyone - she included - wanted for her mate may have been an outsider to the family (which is rare, as Gale women are attracted to power) but he was her best friend since she was very young.

He also was gay. And Allie could have suggested very strongly that he shouldn't be and he should love her. Well, she didn't. She wanted to love him like he was, so she stayed by his side far longer than was wise and saw him fall in love with a guy and moving away (she has no compunction about manipulating the straying tendencies of that guy to make sure Michael gets the lover she thinks he deserves). He remains her best non-family friend.

(view spoiler)

Basically it's avoidance therapy that brings her to Calgary to take over Granny Catherine's store, and then Allie starts investigating Gran's disappearance and adopting all kinds of strays left by her and minding the shop which not only has an incredibly selection of yoyos to sell, but caters to the supernatural community as a sort of P.O. Box office.

(view spoiler)

Aside: Allie would be an incredible friend to have, but, by god, better never get on any of the bad sides of that family - because they have NO scruples in doing what they think is best (not even Allie). If you don't agree, you will usually get your mind adjusted for you. The fact that one of their major tenets is that holding onto power corrupts you is the only thing that seems to have kept the world from being run by Gale women.(less)

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Apr 24, 2013 Mike (the Paladin) rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: didn-t-finish

I'm sorry if you like this book...and I'm tired.

It seems more and more that when I pick up a book looking for an Urban Fantasy I get paranormal romance. I suppose that I set the bar lower than some for deciding what is PNR. And at the risk of being stoned I find more often than not if it's a female author it's going to lean that way (not always I know. I kind of like Rob Thurman's Leandros series).

The idea behind this book sounded good and caught my interest. I went out and bought it based on r...more I'm sorry if you like this book...and I'm tired.

It seems more and more that when I pick up a book looking for an Urban Fantasy I get paranormal romance. I suppose that I set the bar lower than some for deciding what is PNR. And at the risk of being stoned I find more often than not if it's a female author it's going to lean that way (not always I know. I kind of like Rob Thurman's Leandros series).

The idea behind this book sounded good and caught my interest. I went out and bought it based on recommendations here. It opened up alright. The set up telling us about the Gale women (and Gale men and Gale boys and so on). Our young heroine seems to inherit a "junk shop" (read magical junk shop)...seems to inherit because the aunties don't believe grandma (from whom the shop is inherited) isn't dead.

The family is interesting, the connection to the fey is interesting, the shop is interesting the book was promising...except for (again) it's preoccupation with what I suppose we can call, "affairs of the heart".

The aunties want Alysha (our heroine) to get over the cousin she was thought to be planning to marry (Gale girls apparently always...or almost always marry Gale boys) loving someone else (a young man whom at the opening of the book he lives with). There is the discussion of which girl another highly prized Gale "stud" may choose...and on and on and on.

At one point Alysha meets a "reporter" and wonders during the conversation if "his hair would feel as silky as it looks if she brushed it back". She's distracted by his hands, his eyes, and the distractions of what's, "under his clothes".

Think about a book where a male writer goes on and on about being distracted by what's "under the clothes" of the women he meets...the "hero" wanting to "brush back their hair to see if it's a silky as it looks". The male would be a stalker...

Anyway...burned out, sick of the (forgive me) estrogen and I'm laying it aside. I read about a quarter of the book...I don't want to put any more time into it.

If it's for you enjoy...it's not for me, I'm apparently NOT the target audience. (less)

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Aug 18, 2011 Sally rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: ebooks, light-reading

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jan 15, 2011 oliviasbooks rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: urban-fantasy-paranormal, witches-sorcerers-magic, unfinished-2011, swapped-or-given-away, high-expectations, adult-fiction

"For pity's sake boy," Auntie Jane snorted as Dimitri shuffled carefully into the kitchen, there's salve for that . Use it before these trousers rub you raw. Downstairs bathroom. And you lot," she snapped at the girls who gathered round the table as he left the room, "stop giggling. He didn't get in that condition all on his lonesome."
Allie pulled a platter of pancakes out of the oven were they'd been keeping warm. "He needs to learn to pace himself."

Please correct me. But what I've learned from...more

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Jul 12, 2012 Punk rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: queer, ebook, fantasy, dragons

Canadian Urban Fantasy. Magic runs in the Gale family, so when Allie's grandmother sends her a letter saying she's dead, no one really believes it. Still, the letter says that Allie's responsible for her gran's business, which is supposedly vital to the community, and having recently been fired, it's not like she has anything better to do. Allie packs up and heads for Calgary to take over her grandmother's...junk shop.

Reasons why this book made me D-face: 1) Unexplained magic system. 2) Unexplai...more Canadian Urban Fantasy. Magic runs in the Gale family, so when Allie's grandmother sends her a letter saying she's dead, no one really believes it. Still, the letter says that Allie's responsible for her gran's business, which is supposedly vital to the community, and having recently been fired, it's not like she has anything better to do. Allie packs up and heads for Calgary to take over her grandmother's...junk shop.

Reasons why this book made me D-face: 1) Unexplained magic system. 2) Unexplained "We Must Have Sex To 'Complete the Ritual'" magic system. Unexplained and unsexy. I would have accepted explanations or sexiness. Didn't get either. 3) The Gale aunties, the oldest and most powerful women in the family, practice eugenics. Uh huh. They're selectively breeding the younger family members to emphasize certain traits. The aunties also have veto power if someone wants to marry outside the family. Which leads us to: 4) Vaguely incestuous -- sometimes more than vaguely! -- and, again, never in a sexy way. 5) Gender essentialism. Way too many sentences that insist that "Gale girls" are like this, or "Gale boys" are like that. No one really overturned that system. 6) The romance didn't interest me at all, which I eventually realized was because the male love interest had no discernible personality.

Reasons why I kept reading: 1) The magic is mostly low key, like pies with compulsions baked into them, or a charm traced on someone's hand. I liked how simple and understated it was. All I wanted was the magic equation to be balanced; part of using magic is knowing what happens if you use too much. 2) Queerness. Of all sorts. Including non-monogamous and group relationships, and because this is Tanya Huff, it's all handled with respect. 3) Family, and chosen family. 4) It's funny, and I liked the pop culture references. 5) Ally was pretty awesome and so was Charlie. 6) I loved Joe the leprechaun and his yo-yos.

Three stars. Annoyed and entertained me in equal amounts. I'll read the sequel.

eBook: Not good. Lots of words with hyphens still in them, many words that no longer had their hyphens but didn't get put back together correctly, at least one missing word and one missing full stop, and something screwy was going on with the spacing if there was a period followed by a capital Y. Didn't have a cover. Did have a cute yo-yo graphic to separate sections.(less)

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Mar 21, 2009 Nina rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2009

It was great! A slow and somewhat confusing start resolved itself into a protagonist I couldn't help but love and an amazing magical system. If the beginning needed a little work, the ending more than made up for it. I love Allie and her motley selection of friends and family as well as her actual Family. There wasn't a character that wasn't perfectly written. Definitely think everyone should read. Exactly what Urban Fantasy should be and there must be more! (Or I will cry.)

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Mar 13, 2013 Jennifer rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: humorous, magic-users, strong-heroine, urban-fantasy, intense

This is the first book I've read by Tanya Huff, so I went into this without any expectations or preconceptions and was blown away by how good it was. This book is definitely urban fantasy, with its setting in modern day Calgary, but it read much more like a straight fantasy than my usual reads. The story centers around Alysha "Allie" Gale who is a young woman from a family with strong magical powers. It's never completely clear whether the family is fully human or not. Allie has just lost her jo...more

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Oct 30, 2012 Melissa Proffitt rated it 2 of 5 stars

I wish I could give books two ratings, one for how much I liked it and another for its literary quality. The good (and more or less objective): Tanya Huff's writing is interesting and she has some good turns of phrase, the setup and milieu are unusual, there's a (mostly) satisfying payoff at the end, and I liked the supporting cast.

But personally, I was bored. Once you get past the unnecessary and poorly-handled first chapter, which was probably intended to create some kind of total immersion im...more I wish I could give books two ratings, one for how much I liked it and another for its literary quality. The good (and more or less objective): Tanya Huff's writing is interesting and she has some good turns of phrase, the setup and milieu are unusual, there's a (mostly) satisfying payoff at the end, and I liked the supporting cast.

But personally, I was bored. Once you get past the unnecessary and poorly-handled first chapter, which was probably intended to create some kind of total immersion immediacy, you get to the actual plot, which has the unemployed protagonist Alysha "inheriting" her grandmother's antique store/junk shop/magical emporium. The scare quotes are because Alysha, and most of her family, don't actually believe the old woman is dead, and Alysha's real job (aside from keeping the store running) is to figure out what happened and catalog the enormous pile of crap, salted with real magical items, that the store has accumulated. That sounds interesting, right?

What bored me--and I only finished this book because my husband wanted to discuss it--was that Huff's approach to the story was screwy. She handed out information in vague and non-specific ways, but failed to follow through by later giving the detailed and specific information that would complete the picture. Example: Allie's (female) cousin Charlie is said, at the very beginning of the book, to have an unusual ability:

Charlie, like Gran, was one of those oddities the family threw up every now and then and was, because of what she could do, nearly as indulged as one of the boys.

This is the only thing Huff says about what Charlie's mysterious ability is until I have no idea where, because I missed it. Is it her ability to travel through the Wood, a sort of shortcut between places? Her ability to charm through song? These are both interesting possibilities, but since Huff never says how rare they might be, it's just another unresolved and vague plot element.

I also felt that the story had less a plot than a string of consecutive events. It wasn't until the final battle that it started to feel like a story, but by then I wasn't interested. I wasn't engaged enough for the big reveal about who sorcerers really are to be much of a surprise. I'm sure it didn't help that the book I read just before this one was Diana Wynne Jones's Power Of Three, a stunning example of exactly the sort of literary technique Huff was trying to pull off.

Having been so very critical of The Enchantment Emporium so far, I should now probably mention that I had a lot of criticisms of Huff's book Summon the Keeper, and I really liked that one. So I think this is more a mismatch between reader and book than anything else, because almost all the people I know who've read it liked it a lot better than I did, and I can see a lot of reasons why that would be so.(less)

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Oct 25, 2012 Jenn rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: book-group, fantasy-sci-fi, romance, vampiresupernatural

I have enjoyed Tanya Huff's "Blood" series in the past - if that's what it's called - and I like her writing style, so I was looking forward to this. I agree with comments from my bookgroup compadres that the sex was over-the-top. I also felt quite confused about how some of the "magic" worked and felt she'd been too coy with information in order to have the big reveal at the end - I was annoyed wondering what the problem was between Ally and her brother David and why she was sad about him and w...more

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Aug 30, 2012 Rosemarie Herbert rated it 4 of 5 stars

This review has been crossposted from my blog at The Cosy Dragon . Please head there for more in-depth reviews by me, which appear on a timely schedule.

Alysha, or Allie, is a third circle Gale. A little confused? I was too. Anyway, Allie is in deep, suddenly moving across country to find the cause of her Grandmother's sudden appearance.

Ok, so the magic in this world seems based on sex. They have everything going, the couples partner themselves up for the circle rituals, and then they have to hav...more This review has been crossposted from my blog at The Cosy Dragon . Please head there for more in-depth reviews by me, which appear on a timely schedule.

Alysha, or Allie, is a third circle Gale. A little confused? I was too. Anyway, Allie is in deep, suddenly moving across country to find the cause of her Grandmother's sudden appearance.

Ok, so the magic in this world seems based on sex. They have everything going, the couples partner themselves up for the circle rituals, and then they have to have sex right away because they're all horny. But it's not expressed that way, and the sex isn't explicit. Just that every time they hand out some magic, sex is required.

I have to confess I've never read or bought any of Tanya Huff's novels before. I'm not really sure why. I've enjoyed several short stories she has written in Mercedes Lackey's Valdemar anthologies and have certainly seen her name around.

The first, second and third circle things involving Gale girls were really confusing for me. As far as I could tell, aunties were in the first circle because they had already had multiple children, and perhaps had their husbands die? Anyway, they seem to be the most powerful but only if they are in a group. Second circle makes connections and are a bit wild. They also appear to be partnered. Third circle are those that aren't partnered and have less power.

Some of the family connections were confusing. Michael seemed important, and I thought maybe he was part of Allie's family, or whether it was something else. Her brother David, I couldn't work out why they were so worried about him when Allie's grandfather was normal.

Huff is very good at describing things. I got stuck into the story and I couldn't put it down, particularly towards the end. So there were a couple of things that jolted me out of the story, which I've mentioned, but overall it was enjoyable and I'll certainly go on to read more of Huff's books.

Getting past all that, the plot is really quite complicated, and very enjoyable. There's the Gran disappearing line, and then Allie's developing complicated relationship with a sorcerer's sidekick, and then the dragons and the spare dragons and everything!

I found the perspective changes at the beginning quite confusing. It was a bit of a mystery story for a while, even for the reader, which I found slightly frustrating. Things cleared up though and there was far more action going on.

The ending! Yes! Man, I never worked that out at all. I loved the way this book covered a range of genres - romance, mystery and a heavy helping of fantasy.

I'd love to see a sequel to this book. I feel like if only there was just that little bit more explanation for what the Gale girls actually are, and the abilities of the different people in the circle, or maybe even just some more background information on the Gale family, this would be an awesome book, not just a great one.

I'd recommend this book for adults only. Sex magic is a common theme, which is relatively spread throughout the book (no avoiding it, sorry). I didn't find it uncomfortable to read, but some teenagers may object.(less)

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Jul 08, 2012 Li rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2010, series, urban-fantasy, fantasy

This one took me by surprise by being an urban fantasy - based on the title and random blurbs I had read, I expected it to be high fantasy.

I loved how the story made me think and fit the pieces together myself - there was no info-dumping and I felt the author trusted that the reader was smart enough to connect the dots. Unusual by being a standalone story in itself (though I've since read Ms Huff has sold another book in the same world - yay!), and it was a well-told one, with sly humour thread...more

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Jun 25, 2012 Ward Bond added it

The Gales of southern Ontario can change the world with the charms they cast, and they prefer to keep all this power in the family. The Gale Aunties are in charge of this clan, or like to think they are. Alysha, like all her cousins, often finds herself beset with too many Aunties trying to run her life. So when a letter from her missing Gran arrives telling her that she’s inherited a junk shop in Calgary, Alysha is ready and willing to honor her grandmother’s last request to keep the shop open

...more

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Feb 26, 2012 Lilith K rated it 3 of 5 stars

I was a little confused about the magic in this book, especially in the beginning. Talk of charms and antlered men, I didn't understand what was happening. As I kept reading, more things became obvious and confusing. The characters were interesting enough. I liked the progression Allie took, at the start she was very weak and broken...doing her best to just continue to move but with no direction or purpose. To see her step into her new found power and take a stand, was satisfying. I also really...more

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Nov 24, 2011 Azzurra rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: adult, fantasy, paranormal, urban-fantasy-adults, romance

All’inizio risulta un pò disorientante per due motivi. Uno è scritto in terza persona -e solitamente i libri che leggo sono sempre in prima-. La/il protagonista parla di se stesso e di quello che fa, quindi risulta facile al lettore immedesimarsi ed entrare nel personaggio. Qui invece, all’inizio, i personaggi restano distaccati dal lettore rendendo difficile capire di chi stà parlando in quel momento l’autore. Ingranate le prime pagine e questa impostazione, però, tutto scorre liscio come l’oli...more All’inizio risulta un pò disorientante per due motivi. Uno è scritto in terza persona -e solitamente i libri che leggo sono sempre in prima-. La/il protagonista parla di se stesso e di quello che fa, quindi risulta facile al lettore immedesimarsi ed entrare nel personaggio. Qui invece, all’inizio, i personaggi restano distaccati dal lettore rendendo difficile capire di chi stà parlando in quel momento l’autore. Ingranate le prime pagine e questa impostazione, però, tutto scorre liscio come l’olio. La seconda cosa è che la Huff ha deciso di iniziare dando già tantissime cose come assodate…ma non preoccupatevi le spiega poi mani mano nel corso della storia. Quindi il lettore si sente catapultato tutto d’un tratto in mezzo alla famiglia Gale, ricevendo informazioni che ne pretenderebbero altre che però non si hanno. Ma come dicevo, poi lungo il romanzo tutto verrà spiegato.
La storia in sè e per se è molto bella, direi che l’ho preferita di gran lunga a tutta la serie di Viki Nelson.
La protagonista è Allie (Alysha Gale) una delle tante “cugine” Gale, che grazie alla scomparsa della nonna riesce a scoprire le sue vere capacità e cambia di conseguenza il suo destino.
Per farvi capire meglio, e partire preparati al mondo dei Gale, vi spiegherò chi sono e su cosa si fonda la loro storia…cercando di non spoilerare.
I Gale sono una famiglia di streghe, la più potente al mondo.
E’ una famiglia basata sul potere matriarcale, in cui però i pochissimi elementi maschili hanno un enorme potere e importanza. Un importanza direi…VITALE.
Quando Allie riceve una lettera-testamento dalla nonna che vive lontana dal clan Gale, viene spinta dalla famiglia a capire cosa le sia successo…perchè nessuno è convinto che sia veramente morta.
Nella lettera la nonna lascia ad Allie la gestione del suo negozio di cianfrusaglie…spiegandole che è di vitale importanza per la comunità del luogo che lei lo tenga aperto. Allie non capisce come mai un negozio di ciarpame possa essere importante per gli umani del luogo, ma parte intenzionata a scoprire cosia sia successo alla nonna.
Da quel momento accadrà di tutto e di più e vi avverto che, se 500 pagine vi sembrano tante, alla fine non vorrete smettere di leggere di questa pazza e squinternata famiglia.
Ci si metteranno di mezzo i Fae, stregoni cattivi, strane ombre nere e giornalisti dagli occhi più azzurri che possiate immaginare.
Altra cosa importante, vi avviso che si tratta di un libro AUTOCONCLUSIVO.
Sono convinta che in molti tirerete un sospiro di sollievo. Non fatelo troppo presto.
Perchè nonostante possiate leggere questo senza dover per questo ritrovarvi con una storia aperta nel finale, ci saranno altri libri sulle Gale.
Proprio quest’anno, infatti, Tanya pubblicherà un altro volume con protagonista la cugina Charlie, personaggio molto importante di questo libro…The Wild Ways uscirà a fine anno, a novembre.

Preparatevi al ritorno delle Gale!

http://azurestrawberry.altervista.org...(less)

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Sep 01, 2011 Wayne rated it 5 of 5 stars

I remember walking into Bakka books one night looking for a good book to read. A cute blonde handed me Riddle of the Wren by Charles deLint. You'll like it she said. She was right.

I didn't know she was a writer herself. I didn't know her last name, and didn't connect the Tanya Huff whose books started showing up in our local bookstore with the Tanya who worked at Bakka, and who I saw at conventions. Sometimes you have to hit me with a baseball bat to get my attention :)

I've had the joy of watchi...more

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Jun 11, 2011 CJ rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: recently-read

I picked this book up at the library because it looked at least vaguely interesting, and ended up getting it out because it was set in Canada. Urban fantasy, set explicitly in Canada? (The city of Calgary, mostly, in fact.) Almost guaranteed for me to read it, then!

I've not read any of Tanya Huff's other books, but I'm now going to be searching them out because of this one. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. The story moved along at a pleasantly steady clip, the characters were wonderful and intri...more

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May 09, 2011 Jodi rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: audiobook

I want to be clear that this review is based on the audiobook of this novel. This is an important distinction because I suspect I would have liked the book. The Gales are different. Powerful. And mostly women. When Gale girls have babies, they become Aunties. When Gale boys become adults, they have to choose. If this sounds confusing, it was made even more so by ambiguous names and a reader who didn't have enough vocal variation to create effectively male or female characters. Take Charley. A gi...more

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Apr 04, 2011 Liza rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-2011, on-my-kindle-acct

First, let me start by saying I read this because Robin McKinley liked it on her blog: http://robinmckinleysblog.com/2010/11/06/it-can%E2%80%99t-be-friday/. You should read her recommendation of it.

This was a fun read. The magic is funny, the romantic complications believable, and the Aunties are a hoot. The sex is non-traditional (not necessarily het, definitely not limited to monogamous), and is an important part of the magic system and the plot.

The first chapter was confusing--it sets up the...more

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Mar 21, 2011 Trickey rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: adult-fiction

Tanya Huff's writing style is very fast paced. This makes the beginning confusing the middle somewhat confusing and the end almost over before you're ready. However, I love her stories and her main characters are always women who kick butt.

I'm still not sure how well I liked this book, though I did read it in two days (I was on vacation). I liked some of her characters, but there are a lot and I mean, probably too many in this one novel for any of them to be really deep. Besides Ally, everyone...more

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Mar 16, 2011 Steven Kent rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: light-reading

The Enchantment Emporium, sort of a cross between The Godfather and the TV show Charmed, is the story of a young Canadian witch from a family of witches who enters a new territory and finds herself in the midst of a gangland war involving other members of the magical world. Fortunately for Allie, our young heroine, she's got the family behind her. In this case, family protection means the dreaded aunties, cackling old cronies who nimbly cross the lines between Oz's Wicked Witch of the West and M...more

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Feb 23, 2011 Bunners rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, girl-friendly, paranormal-romance

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I realize that, for a lot of people, Tanya Huff is kind of hit or miss. Actually, that's a lie. For me, Tanya Huff is kind of hit or miss - I have no idea about other people. I disliked her Blood books (for all that I admire her guts in refusing to romanticize Vampire novels, they were just too damn bleak for my tastes) but I adore Summon the Keeper and its sequels. Smoke and Mirrors was the first book I remember reading that actually terrified me.

The Enchantment Emporium isn't Huff's finest wor...more

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Oct 26, 2010 Calisto rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: wanted-plot-beta

This is a more 'adult' (in terms of relationships/complexity) version of the Keeper Chronicles and not quite as funny. I did enjoy it and think it's a a solid 3.5 star book. Having said that, this book has issues.

Either Ms. Huff had a new editor or a very indulgent one because the beginning is an impressive minefield of wtfery. Yes, info dumps are brain numbing, but so is being thrown into the middle of an icy lake with just string bikini and a smile. This story would have benefited from a prolo...more

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Aug 10, 2010 Caressa rated it 2 of 5 stars

*sigh* I picked this novel off the New Fiction shelf of the library, after not reading a word for two whole weeks. Crazy, I know. The librarians were getting ready to send a relief party out after me. Anyhoo. I've learned to be VERY wary of female-penned "urban fantasies," as they tend to be heavier on the romantical pining and orgies than the urban or fantasy. But EE piqued my interest for several reasons: 1) Witches with nary a vamp or were to be seen, 2) Said witches don't have frizzy red cur...more *sigh* I picked this novel off the New Fiction shelf of the library, after not reading a word for two whole weeks. Crazy, I know. The librarians were getting ready to send a relief party out after me. Anyhoo. I've learned to be VERY wary of female-penned "urban fantasies," as they tend to be heavier on the romantical pining and orgies than the urban or fantasy. But EE piqued my interest for several reasons: 1) Witches with nary a vamp or were to be seen, 2) Said witches don't have frizzy red curls, 3) Urban Fantasy in Canada? Sweet Eh! 4) Leprechauns, yeah baby!

The Gale family is a less creepy family than Anne Rice's Mayfairs, but they love themselves some pie and lots of wanton sex (Holy Incest Batman!). Luckily for me, very little of the sex plays out as more than hints and innuendos. It's obvious that Tanya Huff sees this story play in living color, but my biggest gripe is that she seems to have significant trouble in getting it from her imagination to paper with the same clarity. Many passages are beautifully descriptive, but often the dialog feels clunky and forced. More than a few times I had to reread sections because pieces of action were missing. For example, Allie is lying in bed plucking at her quilt, with one of many "aunties" hollering up the stairs at her. Then she's suddenly stepping out of the shower while the family dog drinks from the toilet. Wait what? When did she get out of bed & into the shower? And Allie seems to be constantly waking up with people in her bed without explanation. Are they having a slumber party? Romping around incestuously?
After a hundred pages or so I fell into the rhythm of Huff's writing and was able to make it work for me without massive confusion. However, two thirds in I had to set the book down for a couple days, and found that I couldn't immerse myself back in. There also seemed to be a bit of a pacing issue, where there was a lot of exposition dumping. Perhaps Huff could have saved some for the second novel?

I really wanted to fall in love with this book, as it looks to be the beginning of a series. With a number of novels under her belt, I don't think Huff will change her writing style to please little ol' me. I do like that the witchcraft she portrays runs wild and dark; it's more pagan mythology/traditions and less Willow Rosenberg or The Craft. There's something about ancient witchcraft that I find fascinating (along with leprechauns, the post-apocalypse, Iceland, India, and the Deep South). Even though it's against my better judgment, I have a feeling I'll try to wade through the next in the series because, come on, it's got leprechauns!(less)

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Jun 26, 2010 Karen rated it 3 of 5 stars

1. I really don't like the language. Unfortunately it's true for today, but still used needlessly.

2. The story can't seem to make up its mind as to whether it's a story of two people finding each other or a story of saving the world. Of the two only one has a slightly satisfying ending.

3. There is a lot of sex in the book. Fortunately, it's implied rather than described in detail. Unfortunately, most of it is between cousins, which is not unheard of, but in most societies makes people a little s...more

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Feb 15, 2010 Avrelia rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fancy-fantasy, from-the-library, canadian, fantasy, fantasy-in-cities, girly-stories, sff, romance

I loved this book, and what I liked the most was the same I liked in all Huff's books I read: cool and likable characters, snappy dialogue, vivid imagery and sharp details. Details make me relate to the world Huff's characters live in and feel quite at home - whether it was mentions of some Canadian realities, brands or problems, or pop culture ones (like Joss Whedon and World of Warcraft).

So, what is about? A young woman that inherits a junk shop in Calgary from her grandmother, her gigantic ma...more

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Nov 07, 2009 Amanda rated it 1 of 5 stars

I hate that these books keep disappointing me. I felt like this book was one big inside joke. First of all, the horn manifestations and copious references to sex=magic powers goes back to the pagan beliefs about the Green Man and May Day celebration and whatnot. However, if I wasn't a big brainiac and knew about that stuff already, I'd be super confused. So, perhaps I just don't have enough trivial knowledge, but so much of this book acknowledges these Gales and it really just doesn't make sense...more

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Aug 05, 2009 Liza rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: adult-fiction

I just finished Enchantment Emporium today, and I'm torn on a couple of levels.

This is the first time I've read Tanya Huff, and there was much that I enjoyed about it. Allie inherits the Enchantment Emporium from her grandmother when her grandmother disappears and is presumed dead. Dragons, leprechauns, assassins, tabloid reports, and sorcerers pop out of the woodwork as a supernatural war breaks out. Allie, from an extended family of female witches, takes charge and tries to discover what happe...more

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Jun 09, 2009 Colleen rated it 4 of 5 stars

This was a fun romp, and definitely one of Huff's more frivolous pastries. The story is lightly set in Calgary, and we get to visit Banff along with some of the parks and interesting buildings around town. More importantly, Huff uses that wide open feeling to work the much older magic of what happens when someone smothered by too much family gets a chance to get away and claim some space of her own with the family she chooses to keep. The dragons aren't so typical as to be ho-hum, and the runnin...more

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Jun 04, 2009 Darcy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2009

I was very confused on this book at first. Things seemed very random. When this happens I will give a book until page 50, if it is still like that give up. Luckily things started to make sense and I really liked the book in the end. But this does seem like one book where if you re-read it right again things will click faster.

I really liked Allie and her crazy family. They seemed like a fun group to be around. There was so much going on within how the family works it was hard to grasp it. There w...more

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About Tanya Huff

"Born in Halifax, Nova Scotia: Although I haven't actually lived "down east" since just before my fourth birthday, I still consider myself a Maritimer. I think it's something to do with being born in sight of the ocean. Or possibly with the fact that almost no one admits to being from Ontario…

Raised, for the most part, in Kingston, Ontario. It was the late sixties, early to mid seventies. Enough s...more "Born in Halifax, Nova Scotia: Although I haven't actually lived "down east" since just before my fourth birthday, I still consider myself a Maritimer. I think it's something to do with being born in sight of the ocean. Or possibly with the fact that almost no one admits to being from Ontario…

Raised, for the most part, in Kingston, Ontario. It was the late sixties, early to mid seventies. Enough said for those of us who lived through it-and those who didn't seem to be getting another chance to fall off platform shoes.

Spent three years in the Canadian Naval Reserve: I was a cook. They'd just opened it up to women and I figured it would be the first trade that would send women to sea. I was right. Unfortunately it happened a year after I left. No tattoos.

Received a degree in RADIO AND TELEVISION ARTS (B.A.A.) from Ryerson Polytechnical Institute: The year I graduated was the year that the CBC laid off 750 employees in Toronto alone. We were competing for jobs with people who had up to five years experience. The cat threw up on my degree.

Spent eight years working at Bakka, North America's oldest surviving science fiction book store: Change Of Hobbit in California was actually a very little bit older but unfortunately it was a casualty of the recession in '91. During those eight years, while working full-time, I wrote seven books (the first seven, except for the original draft of CHILD), and nine short stories.

In 1992, after living in downtown Toronto, a city of nearly three million, for thirteen years, I moved with two large cats, one small psychotic cat, and my partner out to a rented house in the middle of nowhere. In the years since, we've purchased the house, buried two of the original cats, replaced them with three more felines and, unintentionally, acquired a Chihuahua. You're probably wondering how two reasonably intelligent adults can unintentionally acquire a Chihuahua. Please don't ask.

I love living in the country, writing full-time, anything by Charles de Lint, Xena, Hercules, and email. I dislike telephones, electric blankets, and bathroom renovations.

I always expect catastrophe; as a result, I'm usually pleasantly surprised."

Huff lives with her wife, Fiona Patton.(less)

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BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5552232-the-enchantment-emporium?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348365928l/5552232.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5552232-the-enchantment-emporium?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]The Enchantment Emporium by Tanya Huff[/url]

The Enchantment Emporium (Gale Women #1)

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